HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 1 of 10
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This document provides specific requirements and additional guidance on assessing and controlling risks associated with hand arm vibration.
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Safety Management System Arrangement details
Background
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Hand Arm Vibration (HAV)
Health Surveillance
Exposure Levels
Assessing Exposure Levels
Trigger Times
Vibration Measurements
Monitoring / Recording Exposure
Vibration Logs
Example of Vibration Log Record Sheet
Contractors and Volunteers
Reducing Exposure to Hand Arm Vibration
Selection and Maintenance of Tools/ Equipment
Reduce the Period of Exposure
Environmental Conditions
Process Flowchart
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If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 2 of 10
Policy & Objectives
To ensure that risks associated with exposure to hand arm vibration are managed effectively .
Scope
This arrangement applies to:
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CYC employees including apprentices
Contractors and sub contractors employed by/ undertaking work on behalf of CYC
Volunteers
Specific Requirements
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All activities which may expose employees or others to hand arm vibration are appropriately risk assessed
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Employees who use tools/equipment that may expose them to hand arm vibration are subject to health surveillance both pre-employment and annually
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Exposure levels to hand arm vibration are kept as low as reasonably practicable, and must not exceed the Exposure Limit Value
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Tools and equipment that may give rise to hand arm vibration are assessed and tagged to indicate the level of vibration associated with their use (including employees’ own tools used for work purposes)
 Individuals exposure to hand arm vibration must be monitored and recorded using
 vibration logs
 Managers/Supervisors review the vibration logs.
Employees must notify their supervisor / line manager if they experience any symptoms
 associated with hand arm vibration syndrome
Copies of the vibration logs are submitted to the HR Business Centre for analysis and
 recording
Tools and equipment are subject to a planned maintenance regime (including employees’ own tools used for work purposes)
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 places duties upon employers with regard to both Whole Body Vibration and Hand Arm Vibration. This compliance note deals with the requirements for Hand Arm Vibration only.
Hand arm vibration is vibration transmitted from work processes into workers’ hands and arms. It is associated with use of hand held power tools, hand guided equipment and by holding materials being processed by machines.
There are numerous types of hand held power tools and equipment which can expose the worker to hand arm vibration; examples of which include:
 Chainsaws
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 3 of 10
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Concrete breakers/road breakers
 Stone/Road saws
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Hammer drills
 Hand –held grinders
 Impact wrenches
 Jigsaws
 Needle scalers
 Pedestal grinders
 Polishers
 Power hammers and chisels
 Powered lawn mowers
Powered sanders
Scabblers
Strimmers/brush cutters
Regular and frequent exposure to vibration can lead to permanent health effects resulting from damage caused to the tissues within the hands and arms. There are a range of symptoms which may result from such damage:
 Numbness and tingling in the fingers, and a reduced sense of touch and temperature, due to damage to the nerves in the hand. This damage can make it difficult to feel, and to work with small objects.
 Periodic attacks during which the blood circulation in the fingers is impaired and parts of the fingers become white (blanched). This is sometimes known as ‘vibration white finger’ or ‘dead hand’. During these attacks the fingers feel numb. As blood circulation returns to normal, either by itself or after rewarming the fingers, they are typically throbbing, red and painful. Although vibration causes the condition, it does not bring on the attacks.
The main trigger for these symptoms is exposure to the cold, e.g. being outdoors early on a winter’s morning, or by localised or general body cooling in otherwise warm environments. Rarely in very advanced cases, blood circulation may be permanently affected.
 Joint pain and stiffness in the hand and arm. Grip strength can be reduced due to nerve and muscle damage . (HSE)
These symptoms are collectively known under the umbrella term of HAVS – Hand Arm
Vibration Syndrome. Other conditions/ diseases may occur as a result of exposure to hand arm vibration, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (carpal tunnel syndrome can also occur without exposure to hand arm vibration).
Employees who smoke may be at increased risk of developing HAVS, due to the effects of smoking on the circulatory system and specifically a reduction in blood flow to the extremities.
It should be noted that an individual suffering with HAVS may not experience all of the symptoms described, it is possible that the damage may affect the nerves without impacting on the blood supply and vice versa. The severity of the effects will vary from person to person but generally as exposure to vibration continues so the symptoms will progress.
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 4 of 10
SECTION 4: HEALTH SURVEILLANCE
Any employee who is likely to use hand held power tools, hand guided equipment or hold materials whilst they are being processed by machines, that may expose them to hand arm vibration must receive health surveillance. This includes both pre-employment screening and annual health surveillance. Once identified the employees who are at potential risk will be monitored through Occupational Health, for further details please refer to the Occupational
Health Compliance Note (CYC/HS/CN34).
HAVS is a progressive condition therefore early diagnosis and intervention is crucial. It is important that employees are aware of and can recognise early signs and symptoms associated with HAVS.
Such symptoms may include any of the following:
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Tingling and numbness in the fingers which may result in disturbed sleep
Difficulty in feeling things
Loss of grip/strength in hands
In cold and or wet environments tips of fingers may blanch (go white) then became red and painful.
Employees need to be aware that if they experience any of these symptoms they should report them to their supervisor / line manager immediately in order that a referral can be made to Occupational Health and a formal assessment made.
It is also important to identify those staff who may be at increased risk of developing hand arm vibration due to underlying medical conditions, e.g. diabetes, circulatory problems.
The HSE offer advice in their “Hand Arm Vibration: Advice for Employees” INDG296 publication – www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg296.pdf
SECTION 5: EXPOSURE LEVELS
Hand arm vibration occurs when mechanical vibration is transmitted via the tool/equipment being used into the operator’s hands. This generally occurs via the tool handles into the operator’s hands (see Section 6.3 Monitoring / Recording Exposure).
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 defines two values: the Exposure Action
Value (EAV) and the Exposure Limit Value (ELV).
Exposure Action Value (EAV) – if an employee is likely to reach or exceed this value in a working day the employer is required to take action to reduce/ control the exposure:
EAV = 2.5m/s 2 A(8)
Exposure Limit Value (ELV) – is the maximum limit of vibration to which an employee may be exposed to in a working day i.e. their exposure must not exceed this level:
ELV= 5 m/s 2 A(8)
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 5 of 10
SECTION 6: ASSESSING EXPOSURE LEVELS
6.1 Trigger Times
In order to adequately assess exposure levels to hand arm vibration it is important to consider the ‘trigger time’ this is the time that the equipment is actually in operation and in contact with the operator’s hand. The operator can often overestimate this and therefore it is necessary for observational monitoring to occur, during which the actual trigger time can be ascertained, using either a watch or stopwatch. If the process is a relatively long process then it need not be observed from ‘start to finish’ but for a period long enough to provide a representative sample of typical exposure.
6.2 Vibration Measurements
In assessing the level of vibration associated with a particular tool/ piece of equipment it is necessary to take the readings from the operational equipment* as close to the position of the operator’s hand/hands.
* the measurements should be taken under normal operational conditions and where the equipment has more than one attachment / blades / drill bits, it may require separate measurements for each attachment
A vibration meter is used which simultaneously measures the vibration levels in three different axes, thereby representing the level of vibration that may be transmitted into the operators hands and arms. Measurements of vibration are recorded as metres per second squared i.e. m/s 2 .
To make this information more user friendly the number of m/s 2 is converted into a point value
(rounded up to the nearest 0.5). The points value indicates the number of points per minute of vibration associated with that particular tool. Each piece of equipment / tool that has been tested will have a label attached giving the points value per minute for that particular item.
Please see the example illustration below:
For further information or t arrange for vibration measurements to be undertaken please contact the Health and Safety Team.
The requirement to undertake vibration measurements extends to employees’ own tools used for work purposes and hire tools.
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 6 of 10
6.3 Monitoring / Recording Exposure
The trigger time and points value are fundamental in monitoring an individual employees vibration exposure, the trigger time is multiplied by the points value to give the vibration measurement for the time the particular tool has been used e.g. tool A has a points value of 2 per minute and is used for 15 minutes. Therefore:
 Trigger time x points value =
 15 x 2 =
 30 points
If the employee uses different tools during the day the same procedure is applied for each piece of equipment / tool used and a daily running total kept. As in Section 5 there are two exposure levels:
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Exposure Action Value (EAV) = 2.5m/s
Exposure Limit value (ELV) = 5 m/s 2
2 A(8) which equates to 100 points and,
A(8) which equates to 400 points
The ELV is the maximum level of vibration that an employee can be exposed to; however there can be an uncertainty factor of +20%, in respect of measuring and calculating daily exposure.
It is therefore foreseeable that using an ELV of 5 m/s 2 may actually result in some employees exceeding the maximum permitted limit. To take account of this within CYC the maximum limit of vibration that an employee can be exposed to is 4 m/s 2 , which equates to 255 points.
The regulations do permit for weekly averaging of daily exposure; however, it is not designed to be used for routine work but rather in response to an emergency situation such as dealing with fallen trees following a storm. There are strict conditions attached to using weekly averaging, for further information please contact the Health and Safety Team.
6.4 Vibration Logs
Individuals exposed to hand arm vibration may experience different effects due to that exposure. Employees who use tools/equipment that may expose them to hand arm vibration should be identified and managers must collate a record/list of those employees, a copy of which must be submitted to the HR Business Centre.
The employees who have been included within the record /list must complete a vibration log, the log will record details such as the operators name, date, tool being used, the unique tool
ID number, the points value associated with that particular tool, the time it is used for
(rounded up to the nearest minute), the total points (trigger time x points value), daily running total and daily points total. Each sheet within the log will represent a particular week commencing on a Monday (please see Section 6.5). Supervisors/line managers are responsible for reviewing the log and monitoring the exposure to vibration. They must sign the log at the conclusion of the working week to demonstrate this has been done.
A copy of the vibration log for every employee who is exposed, for each respective week, must be submitted via the line manager to the HR Business Centre for analysis and record keeping. The logs will be analysed to identify those staff who are at risk of or who have exceeded the maximum daily points total or who have not submitted a log for that week. This information will be fed back to managers via a management information report.
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 7 of 10
6.5 Example of Vibration Log Record Sheet (CYC Form F19)
Operator’s Name
Contract No
Week Commencing
Dept/ Area
Day Tool Tool
ID
Point
Value
Time used in minutes
Operator’s Signature:
Supervisor /Manager Print Name:
Supervisor/ Manager Signature:
Total points
Daily Running
Total
Daily Total points
Maximum Daily Points Total =
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 8 of 10
SECTION 7: CONTRACTORS AND VOLUNTEERS
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations places a duty on employers whose activities may cause employees of other employers or others to be exposed to vibration, for example in the case of contractors, sub contractors and volunteers. This responsibility applies to all of the duties under the regulations with the exception of Regulation 7: Health Surveillance.
With regard to contractors and sub contractors the CYC employee who acts as the contract manager (that is they arrange, procure and secure the contract) is responsible for ensuring that the contractor has adequate arrangements in place to monitor their employees exposure to vibration; where this is not the case then the CYC contract manager should arrange for contractors and sub contractor ’s exposure to vibration to be monitored utilising the arrangements as in Section 6.4.
With regard to volunteers their exposure to vibration should be monitored in accordance with
Section 6.4
SECTION 8: REDUCING EXPOSURE TO HAND ARM VIBRATION
Where at all possible exposure to hand arm vibration should be avoided e.g. use machine mounted breakers, where it is not possible to avoid exposure all together the risk assessment process should reduce the amount of exposure both in relation to trigger time & total points.
Domestic grade tools must be avoided as in some cases they may actually result in higher vibration emissions then ‘professional grade’ tools.
8.1 Selection and Maintenance of Tools / Equipment
It may not always be appropriate to select the tool/equipment with the lowest declared vibration emissions as there are also other considerations, it must also be safe and suitable for the task for which it is intended.
The Approved Code of Practice to the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations provides useful guidance with regard to the selection, procurement and use of power tools and equipment:
Power tools selected for use should be:
 Suitable for the work for which it is intended to do and the conditions in which it will be used
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Used only for operations and in conditions for which it is suitable
Designed and constructed to reduce the risk from vibration
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Used only by workers trained to use it safely
Properly maintained throughout its working life to sustain its best vibration performance.
Ergonomic considerations should also be considered such as:
 Tool weight
 Tool efficiency and suitability for the task
 Handle design and comfort
 Grip force needed
 Ease of use/handling
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 9 of 10
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Cold from grips or exhausts on compressed air tools
 Noise
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Dust
The amount of vibration that may be transmitted from the tool/equipment into the hand can be affected by the amount of grip /force needed to hold, handle the item. The higher the grip/force needed the more vibration that may be transmitted into the hands and arms of the operator. Therefore as well as considering the grip needed consideration should also be given to the forces required to guide, push, pull or support the vibrating tool or item being processed by the equipment.
Possible solutions may include, change in workstation layout in order that heavy work pieces can be supported e.g. in the use of pedestal grinders provide a support for the whole piece so that the operator is guiding the piece and holding it against the wheel rather than fully supporting its weight, use of tool arms to support vibrating tools.
Tools and equipment should be maintained according to manufacturer’s instructions/guidance and should consider the following:
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Keep cutting tools sharp
Dress grinding wheels correctly
Replace worn parts
Carry out necessary balance checks and corrections
Check and replace defective vibration dampers, bearings and gears
Sharpen chainsaw teeth and maintain the correct chain tension
Tune and adjust engines
As well as routine maintenance, a procedure should be in place to report faults and if necessary remove equipment/tools from use until it has been inspected /repaired by a competent person (see CYC/HS/CN26 Work Equipment compliance note for further details re: the maintenance and inspection of equipment).
8.2 Reduce the period of exposure
Once suitable engineering controls have been introduced to reduce the vibration emissions the next step is to reduce the actual time the operator is exposed to the vibration – this can be achieved by job rotation, not only by rotating the tasks the operator undertakes to reduce the amount of time using vibrating equipment/tools, but where the operator is part of a ‘gang’ to share out the work e.g. instead of one person being exposed to a daily point total of 210 points, three people are exposed to a points total of 70 points each.
8.3 Environmental Conditions
Exposure to cold weather can result in a reduced blood flow to the extremities, this is of particular relevance to fingers which can become white (blanched), and may increase the risk of persons developing the symptoms associated with hand arm vibration.
Managers should ensure that where staff are working outside in cold conditions they are provided with warm clothing and gloves. It is important that any clothing or gloves provided do not present a health and safety hazard e.g. due to risk of entanglement.
If you have any questions relating to this document please contact the
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131

HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLIANCE NOTES
Ref No: CYC/HS/CN19
Version: 4
Issued by: H&S Team
Issue: February 2013
Page: 10 of 10
They should have an adequate supply of gloves so that in the event a pair becomes wet they have a dry pair to use, as exposure to wet / damp conditions can also increase the likelihood of developing HAVS.
As well as clothing and gloves it is important to permit adequate breaks which employees can take in a warm or sheltered environment. Employees should have access to warm drinks and food which will assist in maintaining body temperature.
There are anti-vibration gloves available on the market however they offer limited protection against hand arm vibration and in some cases can actually increase the transmission of vibration into the hands. Due to the nature of the gloves employees may also have to use a firmer grip thereby increasing the risk of hand arm vibration, therefore the use of anti-vibration gloves are not recommended.
SECTION 9: PROCESS FLOWCHART
1. All activities/ tools which may expose employees to HAV are risk assessed
2. Identify staff at risk of exposure to HAV
3. Health surveillance undertaken both pre-employment and annually.
4. Ensure all equipment used is low vibration
5. Tools/ equipment to undergo annual vibration testing and be subject to planned maintenance regimes (including employees’ own tools used for work purposes)
6. Staff receive training and instruction re: HAV
7. Staff to complete vibration log (F19) which is reviewed by line managers & supervisors. A copy of the vibration log is to be submitted to the
HR Business Centre
8. HR Business Centre analyse and record details, maintain individual exposure logs and feedback analysis of results via management
Health & Safety Help Line on 01904 554131